Throw Shadows At You
by Menamebephil
Summary: Maikka Fortnight 2011.  AU: Avatar Mai's Excellent Adventure.
1. Close Enough

_This was originally written as a part of The Legend of Insert Name Here. I then submitted it on dA as part of Piandao Week, and now I'm using it to springboard Maikka Fortnight 2011. Never let it be said that I don't like to recycle._

Close Enough (to Make no Difference)

–

"...So we brought her to you. If we take care, she should be safe here. If you will take her."

The swordsmaster glances for a second towards the balcony. The girl is sitting there, looking at the garden.

Six years old, and already so serious. He can't help but relate.

Is it, he wonders, deliberate? Surely they must know about his own turbulent childhood. Did they bring her to him, knowing he would never dream of turning her away? Six years old and abandoned by her family, how _could_ he?

No, he chides himself. No, he is being too cynical. He simply has a large, safe house, far from any hub of civilisation. She would be as safe with him as anywhere in the world.

She will need to be. Six years old, and a sudden burst of emotion levels a wall. Her family recoils- after all, she has been demonised these past ninety years.

It's hard not to understand why they might be perturbed that their only daughter is the Avatar.

The messenger coughs, demanding attention.

"Will you take her, Master?"

The swordsmaster shifts slightly in his seat.

"If she will consent to stay. Yes." A short sentence, but it sets his mind whirling, calculating all he is going to have to do in light of this, how his life is going to change.

Adoption is always a big decision.

The messenger shifts again.

"She will have to be trained, of course."

The swordsmaster suddenly gives the messenger his complete, undivided attention. It's enough to make the man break out in a cold sweat.

"Certainly. If she wishes to be trained."

The messenger blinks.

"But she _must _wish to be trained."

The swordsmaster barely moves his hand more than an inch, but it is as good as drawing steel. The messenger backs away hurriedly.

The swordsmaster stands, with a sudden movement.

"I will speak with her."

He turns on his heel, and strides out into the afternoon sun.

–

"Good afternoon."

"'Lo."

"I was speaking to Lee."

She considered this. "I don't like him."

"Why?"

"He smells funny."

The swordsmaster represses the urge to grin into his hand.

"We were talking about you."

No response.

"We were wondering what you want to do."

"I wanna go home."

He sighs.

"I know. But I'm afraid you can't, for a while."

No response.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to stay here, for a little while?" Lies to children are easy, on one level.

"Do you got melon? I like melon."

He blinks, trying to keep up.

"I think we might just have some melon, yes."

"'Kay."

It's an uneasy arrangement, for him. He knows the reasoning the Order has, but it makes him uneasy, and reminds him why he was reluctant to join the Order in the first place. But still, what else could be done?

And if need be, he could guard the young Avatar from the machinations of the Order as well as the more overt dangers of the Fire Nation.

He blinks, as something occurs to him.

"What is your name, child?"

Golden, solemn eyes survey him.

"Mai."

"Mai. My name is Piandao, and I would like to welcome you to my home."

–

The years pass, as they must. There are rumours that Mai is some illicit daughter of his, taken under his wing out of duty, or an overly strong sense of paternal affection. He had told the Order that he would prefer people to think she was a niece, but he supposed there could be worse stories told about him.

She is a serious child. She hides whenever there are students come to train, and seems resentful of them invading her home. And it is her home, now, although she is not his daughter. She is ten years old. Her days are mostly spent in the garden or down in the village- a few of the locals take a shine to her, possibly mistaking her sullen silence for shyness. She does not try to avoid her lessons, though, and Piandao finds her a capable, if quiet, student. Once, in a fit of concern that he was not providing a broad enough education for her, he hires a tutor, but it ends badly- she barely speaks to the poor woman, and simply sits and scowls until Piandao relents and decides that teaching her himself is the only sensible solution. Still, his concern for her mental growth leads him to procure book after book on mathematics and geography and poetry and sit up poring over them late into the night, taking notes that become her lessons for the next day. It's a strangely invigorating experience for him.

–

And one day she asks to be taught sword fighting.

He doubts anyone in the Order expected _that_, and that tickles him, in a mean way. So of course he begins teaching her.

She's pretty good. Not overtly enthusiastic- Mai is never overtly _anything_- but she grasps the forms quickly and has the tenacity required to keep practicing day after day, long after the novelty has worn off.

Piandao thinks that in about ten years, she might be a quite respectable fighter.

–

She is not his daughter.

She throws that in his face on her twelfth birthday, and he's surprised how much it stings. He has never tried to be a father to the girl- he is convinced he wouldn't be any good at it- but he had always tried to be there if she needed it.

But on her twelfth birthday, she reminds him that she is not his daughter. Afterwards, neither of them can even remember what the argument had been about- something about how far beyond the bounds of the mansion she was allowed to roam unsupervised.

She is not his daughter. It's true, of course, but privately, he wonders if she said that just to hurt his feelings. If so, it worked. They spend the next three days

Three days later, he is woken in the middle of the night by the sound of crying.

It takes him approximately twelve seconds to reach Mai's room.

In a sleep-addled state, she says something about fire and dragons, and he offers to get her a sleeping draught. She takes it without hesitation, and drinks it without complaint.

Just as he is about to close the door on her, she sits up in bed.

"Thank you," she says, fiercely.

"Sleep well," he replies, and closes the door.

–

One morning, when Mai is thirteen years old, she comes to him while he is practicing his calligraphy and asks the worst possible question she could.

"What's Sozin's Comet?"

He closes his eyes, breify, and sets his brush aside.

And it all comes out. Every scrap of information the Order of the White Lotus has seen fit to provide him with, and every educated guess and conclusion he has come to on his own. The telling takes almost an hour, and by the end Mai is sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at the patterns in the carpet.

"Oh," is the only thing she says, when he is done.

"Was there anything else?" he asks, after a while.

"Just one thing. I'm the Avatar, aren't I."

It wasn't a question, but he answered it anyway.

"Yes."

"The Avatar. The most vilified person in the entire Fire Nation. Is me."

"Yes."

"Fuck." She says it with the barest flicker of emotion, but he can see the light of her burning future reflected in her eyes, and the way she's stoically watching her hopes and dreams crumble into nothing is tearing him to shreds.

And her jaw sets, and she glares at him, possibly as a substitute for glaring at the entire world.

"So. What happens now?"

_Ignore it_, he thinks, desperately. _Grow in your own time, find happiness, find love, carve your own place in the world. Do anything but shoulder this terrible burden._ It's a selfish thought, he knows- the world needs her, more than ever- but he has seen the fires of war, and more than anything else he wants her childhood to be as unlike his as possible.

But he cannot say it. He cannot command her to fetter herself, and it is not just because of the chilly hand of the greater good.

"You must live in the manner you choose. Nothing has changed. You are who you always were."

Her frown deepens. "Is this why I'm here? Is this why my parents abandoned me?"

He inhales, and closes his eyes. In truth, this conversation has been long overdue.

"Yes. When you were six years old, you were admitted to the Royal Academy for Girls. I am told someone made fun of you, and provoked you into a fight. In response, you knocked down a wall. You were effectively arrested, and your mother had ceded control of you over to the Fire Lord when agents of the Order of the White Lotus broke you out of custody, and put it about that you had died."

"The Order of the White Lotus? Who are they?"

"A group that opposes the Fire Lord and his plans for conquest, and who would see you stand up and destroy him. They wanted to send you to someone who would ...mould you into into someone who would do this without hesitation." He permits himself a small smile. "They sent you to me, instead."

She isn't placated. "So what do _you_ want from me?"

He inhales slowly, and closes his eyes for a moment.

"I told you. I want you to live as you see fit. If you want to remain in seclusion, then this place will always be a home for you. If you wish to reintegrate with Fire Nation society, then I will do all I can- my name still carries some weight, though I will likely end up bending the knee to Ozai in that case. And if you decide to shoulder the burden thrust upon you, then I will do everything in my power to help you. What happens next is entirely up to you."

–

It takes a week, but one morning, over breakfast, Mai looks up with steel in her eyes.

"I want to learn firebending."

He simply nods, and promises to make the arrangements, crushing the dread and disappointment in his heart.

–

In the end, it is her role as Avatar that undoes him, as he always knew it would. One morning, a few weeks after her fifteenth birthday, she announces that she has to go to Crescent Island, and she must be there before the Winter Solstice. He doesn't question it, and makes the necessary arrangements. He cannot go himself, of course- his continued existence is controversial enough, without him flaunting it. Fat goes in his stead.

She returns taciturn and closed-lipped. He does not pry. If she wishes to confide in him, she will.

–

But there is no time.

He stands on the wall, and stares at the sea of flickering torches. A snake of small fires, winding its way towards Shu Jing village.

"How many, do you think?" Fat moves noiselessly, and you would never know he was there if he said nothing.

"Considerably more than a hundred, I would say."

"You know what to do."

"Of course." They've been over this a thousand times. "I will make preparations. Perhaps you should go and wake Mai."

A flash of pain crosses Piandao's face. "Perhaps it would be best if-"

"If I may be so bold, it would be better for you to do it."

Piandao closes his eyes, briefly. "You are right, of course."

–

"Mai. Mai, wake up."

"Hnn... wass... wassappening?"

He's pressing a sword into her hand as she wakes- that alone is enough to have her up and alert.

"Pack," he says, his throat constricting. "Take whatever you can carry and cannot leave behind."

Her eyes are hollow. In a dull voice, she says "They found me, didn't they."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" she asks, and sounds genuinely confused. "It must have been when I went to Crescent Island. Someone saw me. Someone talked."

"Consider this your final lesson," he says, voice harsh so he stays in control. "Someone always talks. Remember that."

"What do you-"

"Mai, you have to go. _Now_. They will be here by dawn. I can delay them, but if you are within a hundred miles they will _find_ you. Fat can set you on your way. There is no time for argument."

"But-" and he can see the fight rise in her, frustrated energy and wild, careless anger and it's like a punch in the gut. He's proud of her, so proud it _hurts_, but now is not the time for her to show her hand.

"Mai," _I am sorry. A thousand times sorry. You have not lived the life you deserved, and I have proved a woefully inadequate guardian. All I could give you was the choice, and you chose to take the burden of the world. I promised to help you, but in the end all it seems I can give you is time. I am sorry. _"... live well, and always remember that you have a choice."

He leaves her to pack.

He never sees her again.

–

Dawn has broken. The gates are straining under the weight of a battering ram. In moments, they will give, and the army meant to capture the Avatar will instead find only him.

It is a sacrifice he makes with a lighter heart than he ever remembers.

She is not his daughter. But she might as well be, he tells himself, as he draws his blade for the last time.

–

It is almost a year before she returns to Shi Jing.

The manor is a ruin. Twisted and blackened rubble. The bodies have been removed, but the scars on the land remain.

"Give me a minute," she says, roughly. Her two Water Tribe companions tactfully retreat, leaving her to wander the ruin of her childhood home.

Here and there, broken blades and spears remain among the blackened skeletons of the cherry trees. She walks as though through a dream until, at the steps to the house, she sees it, and almost laughs, almost cries.

Bright and shining steel- a _jian_, lodged blade-first between the flagstones, improbably balanced after all this time. Someone must have placed it there, though either in mockery or tribute she could not say.

She drops into a sudden stance, and the stone beneath the sword begins to shift and rise. Slowly, inch by inch, detail by detail the column of earth she raises morphs and sloughs excess rock until the figure of a man appears. Slightly more than six feet tall, elegantly but conservatively dressed in robes- no armour, not any more-, his face puts his age at perhaps forty, his beard clipped and manageable, his face clean of the sideburns so fashionable amongst the Fire Nation military, his hair tied back in a topknot. His left hand is held loosely behind his back, and his right rests gently upon the hilt of that flashing sword- his stance is relaxed, and although the sword is so much a part of him that leaving it out is almost sacrilege, he stands at ease. His battles are over now.

She stands there for some time, and the stone tribute to the man that was her father looks at her with that slight, knowing smile of his.

Eventually, the sun goes down, and as the moon reflects in the light of his sword, Mai turns. Her eyes are dry, and her tread is perfectly composed.

Not once does she look back.

–

The Water Tribe siblings look up as they hear her approach the camp. She looks concerned, but he just nods, and places a hand on Mai's shoulder.

She stares into the fire.

"We leave in the morning. We've got a job to do."


	2. Thin

Thin.

**Thin.**

Fat sat in the prow of the boat, swathed in so many layers of fabric he was probably more duvet than man, now. He sat, and with star charts he didn't really understand and a growing sense of dread gnawing at his stomach, and he attempted to plot their course south.

It had been a fairly unpleasant month. His employer had been killed, his home had been burnt to the ground, and he was now a wanted man wherever the Fire Nation held sway.

Oh, and he wasn't entirely certain that his only companion wasn't one especially bad day from killing somebody, and really, if she were so inclined, he would prefer she loose herself in a slightly more _target-rich_ environment, if only to tip the odds a little in his favour.

If he were being truthful- something he had rarely been less inclined to be- he was deeply, _deeply_ worried.

Not solely about Mai, either. Well. Not solely about the less than completely fantastic possibility that Mai could simply wake up one day and decide to start burning things.

They had gone south. Well, where else had there been to go? Ideally, they might have made a break for the Earth Kingdom, but for the fact that there was the entire Fire Nation in the way. South, at least, they could traverse by boat.

They had the master's eelhound, of course, but Fat had no idea whether or not the beast could survive travelling in the frigid antarctic waters, and he had no interest in gambling with it's life- and his, if it came down to it- in order to find out. So they had taken a ship, with enough space to keep Boy the eelhound comfortable below deck, and laden it with supplies.

So they were sailing further and further into the cold- Mai helped, in her own way. She had learned- well, closer to _discovered_- how to generate a simple breeze, which assisted in sailing, but the fact remained that most days Mai had neither the energy nor the inclination to assist in the business of sailing, instead spending much of her time in meditation. Or simply staring at the wall.

She was hurt, and confused, and in all probability more than a little guilty. Fat could understand that. He was less than ecstatic himself.

In a paradoxical way, Mai was perhaps the one thing keeping him from... acting unwisely, himself.

She had lived all her life in civilisation. Her life had been strained in many other ways, but at least she had never wanted for clean laundry. She had few skills that would help her survive in the wilds alone. Fat, on the other hand, had spent a number of years traversing the less salubrious areas of the globe, and had picked up a little here and there.

So he had thrown himself into the task of keeping them both alive and in some semblance of comfort, with his whole heart. Keeping busy was the only thing he could do- it was hard to grieve while preoccupied with heaving on guy ropes, and besides, he thought Mai appreciated it. He was not such an expert on judging her moods as his master had been, but it seemed that she was always slightly improved for having a cup of tea.

In short, Fat may not have been able to do much in the way of actually _fixing_ the situation, but, if one would excuse a moment of vulgarity, he was going to buttle the _shit_ out of it.

But this could not be maintained indefinitely, as much as he would prefer to pretend otherwise. The cold was beginning to get to him. Every day it was harder to rouse himself, and his hands shook all the time, now.

They needed help. And he had no idea where he was supposed to get it.

–

Sokka was not the happiest of campers.

Because of Gran-Gran and Katara, now they had another two mouths to feed. Two grumpy Fire Nation mouths.

Sure, they _claimed_ to be refugees or whatever, but -and he couldn't believe that he had to point this out to _anyone_- _they were probably lying_.

Then of course Katara had to go and spoil his train of thought by pointing out that there was absolutely nothing that they could gain by spying on the village. Grudgingly, he had to concede that.

Still, it meant that he was out hunting every moment he got. The nights were getting shorter by the day, and he was spending almost every moment of daylight prowling the wastes with spear and boomerang, hoping to find something just _slightly_ smaller, slower and stupider than he was, so he could kill it and drag it back to the village.

If nothing else, he had to admit that the whole process made him feel more than a little macho.

–

Mai was, all things considered, a pretty terrible guest. She wouldn't socialise, she barely left the small snow-hut the tribe had lent her, and she completely ignored Fat's subtle suggestion that perhaps she should show her appreciation of the tribe's generosity by helping out around the place a bit.

On the plus side, though, she barely ate, and since she didn't like to go outside, she didn't get underfoot when everyone else was trying to work.

Fat was far more accepted in the village, seeing as he dispensed tea and decorum wherever he went, two resources that this armpit of the world was definitely lacking.

And then of course a gigantic warship had to roll in one morning and make her actually get up and do stuff.

–

Sokka hadn't been close enough to hear the initial exchange between The Dark Broody Chick (who probably had a name, but he might have stood a chance at remembering it if she was ever around enough for him to have to _use_ it) and Captain Of The Metal Boat. He'd been up on a ridge, overlooking the village, and the sight of the boat had been enough for him to abandon his catch and charge down the hill towards the invaders- but it seemed -_Mai_, that was it- Mai had gotten there first.

It... didn't go too well. Captain Of The Metal Boat had started shouting. Mai hadn't.

Then Captain Metal Boat had started using fire, and somehow Sokka had found he could run even faster than he thought.

Mai had got there first.

She was a firebender? He had not known that. Still, it was definitely proving useful now.

Okay. Captain Boat was distracted. He had soldiers, but none of them looked ready to interfere.

There had to be _something_ he could do.

–

Mai hadn't expected a boomerang to come flying out of nowhere and hit Prince Zuko in the side of his head and send him tumbling over into the snow. But she wasn't about to argue with a good thing.

After the Prince had beaten a hasty retreat, Mai turned around, and almost sighed when she realised that the village was observing her with an almost reverential air.

Except one. The teenage boy, out of breath, retrieving his boomerang from the snow.

"What'd I miss?"

–

"You're the _Avatar_."

"Yeah."

"And... what are you doing down here?"

She shrugged.

"Great. So, what're you going to do now?"

Another shrug.

"Any plan? At all?"

"I'm not really a _plans_ type."

"That's just great. And you're supposed to save the world."

"Yup."

"Before summer's end."

"Yup."

"And you have no plan."

"Yup."

"Well that's just fantastic."

–

Mai supposed she shouldn't have been surprised- after all, Fat was staying (he was older than he looked, and he looked pretty old to Mai), and there was no way the butler was going to let her sidle off into the world unsupervised.

Still, she couldn't help but be taken aback when the boy and his sister loaded a couple of packs onto her boat, and nodded to her.

"We're coming with you," he'd said, in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Sure, whatever."


	3. Your Fault

Your Fault.

–

There were nights when Mai didn't sleep.

None of them were particularly comfortable in the Southern Air Temple- sifting through the dead in some hope of finding something, anything that might help Mai to learn airbending. Food was strictly rationed. It was windy and cold, and above everything else the entire structure felt like a tomb.

But it wasn't for that that kept Mai from sleeping. Some nights, when she thought the others were asleep, she would walk out into the night, and stare at nothing.

Sokka was rarely asleep when she pulled that stunt. But it took him three weeks to decide to confront her about it.

It wasn't that he was working up the nerve, he told himself. It wasn't that she scared the crap out of him, it was just that he figured that it was her problem, and he'd let her deal with it. Except she wasn't dealing it. So he was going to have to.

So one night, drawing close to winter, he listened for her, and when she left the small outbuilding that the three had taken as sleeping quarters, he followed.

–

Mai did not like Yue. Didn't like her stupid hair, didn't like her stupid name, didn't like her stupid face, didn't like her stupid voice, and definitely didn't like her (stupid) 'oh-I'm-so-princessy' charms that had so entranced Sokka.

That didn't mean she felt like doing a jig when the girl died.

A day or so after everything was over, she found him. If anyone had dared to ask, she _definitely_ wasn't looking for him- she respected his privacy, and his decision to feel like crap in some dark corner was perfectly fine with her. Besides, looking for him sounded a lot like work, and if there was one thing she was never going to go looking for, it was more work.

She just _happened_ to be taking a refreshing walk in the vague vicinity of the last place anyone had definitely seen him. That was all.

–

He found her sitting on the lip of the airbender training grounds, feet hanging over the edge, staring out at the moon. She gave no indication that she had noticed him as he approached, even though he was certain that she had. He was almost shocked by how... _small_ she looked, at that moment. Every second of every day she exuded this _prickliness_, this kind of pre-emptive counterattack against everyone in her general area, and it always made her seem to be looming.

Except now she wasn't. She wasn't tensed for a fight, she wasn't staring him down appraisingly, she wasn't doing anything at all except sitting and she just looked wrung out. The effect was oddly unsettling.

Mai abruptly stood, without any warning, and inhaled once, before punching forward, out into the night.

Sokka felt the explosion of fire curling his eyebrows, even standing ten feet behind her. Even in the middle of the night, it was still terrifyingly impressive.

_Right. Avatar. Mustn't forget that part._

He guessed she was making a point, but he definitely didn't see it.

So she spoke, keeping her back to him.

"I'm pretty good."

Was she fishing for compliments? He remembered his Dad once telling him that girls sometimes did that kind of thing.

"Yep. You certainly are."

She gave no indication that she had heard him, continuing to glare out at the sea.

"He was the greatest swordsman of his generation. By a wide margin. He once fought and killed one hundred men, completely by himself. We could have done it. We could have won."

Sokka blinked, and not just because that was the single longest statement he had heard from Mai yet. But he remembered something about this. That guy, Fat, he'd mentioned a little about this. Figured it was best for Sokka and Katara to be prepared.

When Mai had been revealed to be the Avatar, her parents had disowned her and turned her over to the Fire Lord. It was a completely shitty thing to do, but Sokka figured that sort of thing was par for the course in the Fire Nation. Except this guy, this swordsmaster, had somehow rescued her, and raised her as his own. He'd been killed, just a couple of months ago, when the Fire Nation had finally figured out where the Avatar was hiding.

And now it looked like Mai was feeling shitty for abandoning him.

Okay. Understandable.

He'd expected her to look angry. Well, as much as she ever looked anything at all. But she didn't. After the initial display of firebending, she'd just... slumped, sitting back down with her face to the night. Shoulders sagged, spine curling forward, forehead resting on one hand, she simply looked quietly _dejected_.

–

He was on a bridge, gazing out at the water. She didn't know why- maybe there wasn't any significance at all.

She ambled up, and stood next to him, imitating his pose- arms folded, leaning forward on the edge of the bridge, staring straight ahead into the water.

"Hey," she said, as softly as she could manage.

"Hey."

There wasn't much else that needed to be said, really. They both knew what had happened. Sokka had- he and Yue had- you know, when she really got down to it, Mai wasn't actually sure_ what_ Sokka and Yue had been doing while Mai and Katara had been learning under Master Pakku. Sokka had asked her on a date initially, but ever since then he had blusteringly insisted that everything between them was strictly platonic and completely friend-based and she couldn't figure out why she _cared_.

(Wait, that came out wrong. She meant she couldn't figure out why Sokka thought she cared. Thought anyone cared. Better.)

Still, Yue had meant something to Sokka. That had been obvious to everyone, including High chief Arnook, who had assigned Sokka to guard Yue when the Fire Nation attacked.

That... hadn't gone so well. But then, who could have predicted she'd jump in front of the fireball like that? After all, as far as anyone had known at the time, the things in the pond were just a couple of fish.

–

Sokka wasn't thinking- he moved far too quickly for that. If his brain had been _at all _involved in the decision-making process, he would have made sure to sit at least a foot further along down the ledge from her. Instead, he just flopped down right next to her, and when he went right ahead and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, his brain just threw up its hands, and let him get right on with whatever he was going to do next.

It was probably for the best. If he'd thought about it first, he would almost certainly have tried to put a spin on it- tried to say it in a way that he thought she would want to hear it.

Instead he just told her the truth.

–

So he was feeling guilty, and broken-hearted, and all-around _miserable_. Fair enough, she guessed.

And of course, now she was here, she guessed she had to say something. Sure, she could save herself a lot of bother by just walking away and leaving him to stew for another couple of days, but while she made sure everyone knew about her crippling aversion to work, she wasn't sure she wanted a reputation as an all-around fully-fledged sociopath.

So she stood there, shoulder-to-shoulder (hey, it was _cold_ up in the North Pole), trying to figure out how to snap him out of it without looking like a colossal moron.

Her mind drifted back to that night at the Southern Air Temple. He'd known what to say, then. She figured his words were just as applicable to this situation, too. If nothing else, he might recognise it as what he had said to her, and that might get a reaction.

So she told him.

–

"It's not your fault."


	4. Flash

**Flash.**

The new year saw the trio set foot once again in the Earth Kingdom, except this time, they actually had managed to persuade both Katara _and_ Mai to agree to something almost resembling a coherent _plan_, an occurrence Sokka had hitherto figured so unlikely that he'd figured he would have had more chance of picking up a rock, closing his eyes, spinning round three times fast, throwing with eyes still closed, and knocking Ozai stone dead.

So, naturally, this plan had completely disintegrated the second they had landed on Earth Kingdom soil. General Fong had decided that the whole 'master all four elements to attain complete spiritual harmony, utilise newfound spiritual harmony to kick Fire Lord in face. Harmoniously' plan was... long-winded. He'd figured he'd found a shortcut: the Avatar State.

So that was how Sokka and Katara three found themselves spending their first weeks of the new year watching a bunch of Earth Kingdom soldiers tentatively prod Mai with sticks.

Metaphorically.

Except that one time when one of the 'experts' involved had the idea that sharp physical pain was an ideal trigger. Not one of the most successful of experiments. Of course, _none _of the experiments had actually achieved anything, but that was the one that resulted in a: the most broken furniture, and b: the most researchers put in the hospital, which earned it the coveted title of Biggest Failure of the Week.

Katara didn't like this plan. She figured it was a waste of time (which it would be, if they still hadn't made any progress in a week's time), and that General Fong was a gibbering egomaniac who couldn't get enough of emotional blackmail (which, you know, was kind of unfair without actually being _untrue_). Sokka... was kind of ambivalent. As much as he was never going to admit it, Katara made some almost rational points, but as skeevy as General Fong was, he was _also _pushing what was looking like their best chance of drop-kicking Ozai into the sun without everyone dying.

Basically, as long as Mai was cool with the idea (and she seemed to be onboard, at least for the moment), then he guessed he was cool with it too.

–

He was officially No Longer Cool With It.

The turning point had probably been when General Fong, desperate for results, had A: started simply _attacking_ Mai, and then, when that hadn't worked, had B: attacked _him_.

It wasn't fun, being trapped underground. He couldn't move his legs, or his arms, or in fact anything other than his head, which he could rotate a few degrees either left or right. It was completely and utterly _black_. All he could do was listen to the muffled sounds of violence from somewhere above. He was sure it was all as exciting as could be, but he was a little more concerned by the fact that he was _probably about to suffocate_. The panicked huffing definitely wasn't helping, either.

But suddenly the earth spat him out again, and he was dragged to his feet by a hysterical-looking General Fong.

"You've got to do something!" he yelled, inches from Sokka's face. "She's completely insane! She'll kill us all! Do _something_!"

So Sokka punched him in the face until he felt better. Until Sokka felt better, of course. Fong just felt less conscious.

And then he looked up, and his breath hitched in his throat.

She was the eye of the storm. Fire curled, swept up in an enormous hurricane, and the earth shook beneath his feet as the fortress crumbled from within but he barely noticed.

It was kind of odd, seeing Mai actually _look_ angry. Sure, she _got_ angry, but about the only way you could tell was the way her nose kind of wrinkled a little bit and she made eye contact a bit more.

In the Avatar state, she was a bit more... _uninhibited_.

He had to do something.

He took three unsteady steps towards her, and looked down. Yep. Not dead yet.

He continued this unconfident pace until he suddenly felt the wind dropping and the ground still below him, and though the roar of flames still filled his ears, it seemed to be coming from somewhere behind him.

He found the courage to raise his eyes. Mai was before him. Arms spread and fingers splayed, eyes blank blue, azure light spilling from her open mouth. Hair fluttering around her shoulders, every line of her body _aching_ with power, it was a ..._memorable_ sight.

Sokka's jaw swung gently in the air, before he remembered himself.

He had to do something. But he couldn't think of anything smart. So he did something stupid instead, and clapped his hands on his shoulders before shaking her roughly.

"Mai. Mai. _Mai, snap out of it_!"

It was like someone cut her strings- her arms flopped, and she sagged- Sokka was forced to catch her and hold her up by her biceps. Her head rolled forward, and when she looked back up at him her eyes had turned back to gold.

"Oh," she said, in a dazed kind of way. "You're not dead. That's nice."

Sokka said something, he was sure. He just had a hard time concentrating for the next while. The sight of Mai in the Avatar state was sprawling in his head, with its feet up on the coffee table and his favourite book in its hands, yelling at him to make it a drink and something to eat.

Sokka tried to shake the image of Mai in full on Baby's-Got-Blue-Eyes mode out of his head, because it was doing strange things to his brain but more importantly it was doing strange things to his dick, and if _that_ wasn't the world's most specific fetish he didn't know what was.

–

So the three reverted to the original plan, which had been to ride to Omashu as fast as they could, and enlist the assistance of the mightiest earthbender in all the land, Bumi, the Mad King of Omashu.

Predictably, that all went rather badly. Really, Sokka was starting to get jaded by how familiar the formula was by now.

Except for one moment.

The man the Fire Nation had appointed as governor of Omashu was an unimpressive figure. Small and fussy, grey hair more through stress than age. Sokka had dismissed him as a threat, even if he _hadn't_ been guaranteed safety as he delivered the man's infant son back to him.

It had been kind of odd, how willing the man was to negotiate, even if they _did_ have his kid (accidentally, but he wasn't about to admit that). But Sokka wouldn't have thought too much of that if the man hadn't spoken up, as Sokka was turning to leave.

"How is she?"

He stopped, and turned in confusion. "What?"

The governor nervously licked his lips. "The Avatar. Is she... is she well?"

"Why would you care?" Suddenly, Sokka's eyes flicked to the man's wife, and the realisation was a punch in the gut.

"I just... I hope she is …not unhappy." The governor wouldn't meet his eyes, which was fortunate for him, because Sokka was looking for the barest excuse he could find to knock the man out, and at this point he would have _happily_ taken 'prolonged eye contact' as a reasonable cause for violence.

Sokka turned to leave, but he spat one last answer over his shoulder.

"She's better off where she is now than she ever would have been with her birth parents, I can tell you that for nothing."

He didn't need to see the man flinch to know that his guess had been right. But it was good to have confirmation.

–

Sokka hesitated, rubbing his eyes in frustrated confusion.

What was he going to _do_? Tell her? What would that do, except make her angry?

_You'd want to be told_, a voice inside him insisted. Sokka wasn't sure he believed it, but he followed its advice nonetheless.

"Mai," he said, opening the door to her room that The Resistance had thoughtfully provided. Katara was there too, and the two of them had apparently been engaged in conversation, before Sokka arrived. "Everything went okay."

Mai nodded.

"So," Katara asked. "We ready to get moving, then?"

"Hold up. Mai, there's something- there's something I have to tell you." He inhaled, deeply. "Katara, could you give us a minute?"

"Sure," she said, oddly accepting of the idea- the oddness was only compounded by the reassuring look she gave him as she walked past him to leave the room. Never mind. Figure that out later.

"Mai, I, uh, I guess I have some news?"

She waited for him to continue.

"But I'm kind of worried, 'cause I don't think you'll wanna hear it."

Mai shrugged. "I can't tell until you actually tell me, you know."

Fine.

"Mai, the governor of Omashu is your father."

The only reaction Mai displayed was to reflexively tap the hilt of her sword- a sword, Sokka suddenly noticed, he had never seen her draw- and to blink heavily.

"You're certain?" she asked, from a thousand years and a million miles away.

"He asked after you," Sokka said, as professionally as he could.

"Oh," she sighed, after a long while.

Eventually, Sokka worked up the nerve to speak again- seeing Mai forcing placidity was unnerving in the extreme. "Do you wanna stay a while longer, or-"

"No. I just... give me a minute."

"Sure," Sokka replied, softly, and turned to leave.

"Sokka," Mai said, abruptly, and he turned back. She still hadn't moved a muscle, and her voice was as impassive as it had ever been. "Thanks. I needed to know."

Sokka nodded, and closed the door.

–

It had been weeks since Omashu, and their fortunes had decidedly _not_ improved in that time.

"Okay, so I'm pretty sure we came into this stupid swamp from the south, so the only thing to do is try and get up high, and check the sun. Mai, you think you could climb a couple of trees?"

"Hey, who put _you_ in charge?" Katara snapped, irritated and tired. "I'm pretty sure _you_'re not the Avatar here."

Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Fine. Mai, seeing as you're our Wise And Inscrutable Leader-Type-Of-Person, got any pearls of wisdom you'd like to dispense for us?"

Mai blinked.

"Hmm?"

"What. do. you. think. we. should. do? You're the boss, after all."

"What? I don't know. Sokka, you're in charge. Try and find a way to get us out of here."

"Thank you," Sokka replied, with endless patience, and returned to studying his map.

After a while, Mai acknowledged that Katara was glaring at her.

"What? It's called delegation."

Katara simply shook her head.

"You do realise that there's no way you can take that back, right? We're going to be hearing about this for the rest of our lives."

–

They determined, after a while, the way that would quickest lead them out of the swamp, but by that point the sun had gone down, and they decided that it would be best to just get some sleep, and start moving.

When the sun rose, Mai was alone, and, as far as she could tell, nowhere near the small camp they had made.

Of _course_.

–

It was a long, confusing, and irritating day before the three of them were reunited. Mai counted a total of three hours spent in some kind of swamp-gas-induced dream, five friendly waterbender hicks, and (and this was important) precisely zero pairs of trousers. In a swamp filled with foot-long leeches, they decided to go around in _grass skirts_. _WHY._

But anyway, at the end of the day, the three of them were back together. Both Sokka and Katara looked... a little troubled.

It turned out everyone had gotten a dose of swamp gas.

("Oh, come _on_. You heard what that guy said, it's clearly _not_ swamp gas."

"Swamp gas, Katara. I don't care what some crazy man says. It's swamp gas."

"But you _know_ it's something Spirit related, you're just pretending it isn't because you don't _like_ it!"

"It's swamp gas, Katara."

"See? Even the _Avatar_ agrees with me.")

Katara shook her head. "I saw... I thought I saw Mom. It wasn't obviously, but it seemed so _real_..."

Sokka shook his head. Mai looked questioningly at him, and he'd just sighed and answered, resignedly. "Yue."

Of course. It _would_ be Yue.

"Hey, Mai," Sokka said. "What'd _you_ see?"

Mai shrugged. "Flying pig."

Sokka burst out laughing. For some reason, Mai's stomach did a little backflip at the sound.


	5. Kidnapped

**Kidnapped.**

Azula nodded to Ty Lee, as the prisoner began to stir. The soldiers had been dispatched to their positions, and now there was nothing to do but while away the hours before the Avatar arrived with a little light interrogation.

His eyelids fluttered into consciousness, and his head lolled up from its resting place on his chest.

"Oh. I was kinda hoping for more sideburns." Empty bravado. He was all but quaking in his boots already. Trying to hide it with a flippant attitude was better than nothing, Azula supposed, but really, it was a little pathetic.

The captive glared up at her from his seat, brows furrowed in confusion.

"So. Who are _you_ supposed to be?" A snap and a snarl- Azula almost grinned. The boy was halfway to snapping already, and she hadn't even _done_ anything yet.

Azula smirked. "What, you don't recognise the family resemblance? She draped one hand over her eye, and growled. _I must capture the Avatar to restore my honour._"

The boy burst out laughing. He didn't stop for some time.

"-I can't -I can't br- can't breathe," he choked out, rocking back and forth so violently that it almost seemed he was going to overbalance and fall backwards to the floor.

Azula frowned. This was not exactly the reaction she had expected.

"Oh man," he breathed, when he finally got control of himself. "That was the funniest thing I've seen in _years_. Do it again."

Azula coloured. "You are mocking me. That is generally considered _unwise_." It was also, to be honest, almost completely unheard of.

"I'm serious!" he protested. "You're actually really good at that. You nailed that weird meld of Growling Avenger and Pouty Twelve-Year-Old that that guy's got going on."

Azula tried not to show how much that description amused her. Instead she showed how amused she was at something else. Besides, it was oddly nice to be complimented on something that had absolutely nothing to do with firebending, or military prowess.

"You don't even know his name?"

He shrugged, as well as he could while tied to a chair. "I'll admit, it's probably come up, but I wasn't really listening for it."

"It's Zuzu."

He abruptly laughed again. "Seriously? _Zuzu_?"

Azula sighed. "Well, if you want to get technical, it's Zu_ko_, but he hates being called Zuzu. I used to call him that when we were- well, when we were children."

Sokka nodded, committing it to memory. "Alright. I'll mention you to him the next time he burns our camp down in the middle of the night."

"Please do. And try to remember his reaction. I'll want to know about it when we capture you again." Well, this wasn't going exactly how she had pictured it- she had rather hoped to simply terrify him into submission- but she supposed she could adapt. After all, it would be difficult to change the mood at this juncture, and he would probably give at least something away if he simply talked for long enough.

"So, why me? Luck of the draw?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Please. The Avatar values you. So she will, to some extent, comply with our-"

"Wait. Hold up. Go back a second. _Values_?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Oh please. It's _obvious_."

"It... is?"

Azula nodded.

"Yep," Ty Lee agreed, perkily.

"_Really_? 'Cause I always kinda- but I never really thought she- …man, you guys have given me a _lot_ to think about." He continued in this vein for about five minutes, until Azula cleared her throat loudly.

"If we could get back on track?"

"What? Oh! Yeah, sure, go ahead."

"Anyway, as I was... you're still not listening."

"...I guess not. But come _on_, you don't just throw that at a guy like it's nothing! You gotta give me a bit to get this worked out."

Ty Lee chose this moment to interject.

"Well, what's the problem?"

"Well, you know, she's always been kinda _there_, but I guess I always assumed she wasn't interested? I mean, when we met she was kinda upset over her dad dying, but she's always had this kinda _I will kill your family_ vibe going on. Not that she's not really nice when you get to know her, but she's just kinda intimidating, I guess. Plus... I'm not really comfortable talking about this."

"What?" Ty Lee prompted, the very picture of concern.

"Well... the last time I was with a girl, it... kinda ended badly."

"She dumped you?"

"No, not dumped, not _dumped_ exactly. She kinda... was already betrothed. And then she kind of killed herself in order to protect the Moon Spirit, because it turned out the thing had a prior claim on her soul, because of some deal her dad struck. Which sucked."

Ty Lee somehow managed to look as though she empathised.

"So yeah, after that I kinda... you know, tried to focus on the mission, except Mai's there and she's really supportive in her way and is it bad that I'm suddenly noticing that if she just stops looking so despondent she's really, really hot?"

Ty Lee nodded, understandingly. "You think this might be a rebound from your last girlfriend?"

His jaw set, grimly. "She deserves better than that. And I like her, I really, genuinely do."

"Well then, it all seems pretty simple to me. You need to decide whether or not your feelings for her are genuine, and if they're going to last, and if they are, just... act on them."

"How do I know?" He looked agonised.

Ty Lee pondered the conundrum. "Tell me, where do you see yourself in five years' time?"

Sokka looked thoughtful. "Killed by a fireball," he decided, eventually. Azula felt herself nodding encouragingly.

"O...kay, not the most positive outlook there, but we can work with it? Is Mai there too, do you think?" Azula nodded even more vehemently.

"Well, no, 'cause she's the _Avatar_, and, you know, she's a little harder to kill than Regular Guy Sokka here."

"I mean before you get killed by this fireball."

"_Oh_, right."

It was at about this point that Azula simply gave up, and left the room.

–

"So," Sokka had said, after a while, "not that I'm complaining- you've been really weirdly helpful- but... why all the interest in my love life? I mean, maybe you didn't get the circular, but we're kinda _enemies_, ya know."

Ty Lee shrugged. "I just don't like seeing people too afraid to make that first move. It's so sad, you know, when it's obvious that there's something there, but they're just too stupid or too afraid to _do_ anything." By the end of her explanation, Ty Lee was staring at the wall. Then she shook her head, and remembered herself. "You know. Just speaking in generalities here."

"Uh huh. Well, I definitely buy that."

"Good, because it's true."

–

"It's time," Azula announced, some time later, as she strode into the room where Sokka was restrained.

He was intimidated, but _almost_ did a good job of hiding it.

"So, what's the plan? Not that I'm complaining, I mean my ass has gone _right_ to sleep here, but come on, what're my cues?"

Against her better judgement, Azula found herself preening. For whatever reason, she decided it was important that this boy realise quite how brilliantly he and his had been outmanoeuvred.

"The plan? Simplicity itself. The Avatar will notice that the main gate to this fort is inadequately guarded. Suspecting a trap, she will attempt the side door. Naturally, this will be a much more heavily guarded entrance. While the soldiers outside occupy her, _you_ will be inserted into the second wave- adequately restrained, of course. This will distract the Avatar long enough for Ty Lee to restrain her. It shouldn't take more than five minutes."

Against all probability, Sokka burst out laughing again.

"Oh man seriously. You've got a great plan, it's just fantastic. Except, like, four- no, three points. First, you are _seriously_ overestimating Mai's patience for things like planning alternative entrances. If you show her what looks like a door, she'll make it a door.

"Second, if you think your squad of guys is going to _occupy_ her more than maybe thirty seconds, you are way too confident. I mean you've got what, thirty people? Forty? Not enough."

Azula was about to retort, when something outside exploded violently. Rushing to the window, she peered into the darkness. Obviously, what she saw didn't please her, from the look on her face as she turned back to him.

He smirked. A dumb move, in the circumstances, but he couldn't help himself.

"Guess miserable failure runs in the family, huh?"

"Don't you _ever_ compare me to-" she raised her hand, preparing to knock Sokka flying, but he still had one more thing to say.

"Oh, and point three? I haven't actually been tied to this chair for maybe ten minutes."

At which point he hit her over the head with the chair- something he might have felt bad about if he'd thought it would keep her down for more than a few seconds- and proceeded to run like buggery.

–

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Learn anything useful while you were tied up?"

"...Don't know about useful, but about the girl in charge- apparently she's related to that guy."

"That guy?"

"Yeah, that guy. You know, that one that keeps following you around and showing up at awkward moments."

Mai blinked. "I thought _Katara_ was your sister."

"Ha. Ha. The _other_ guy. With the scar?"

"Oh. Oh, I'll admit, that does make more sense."


	6. Caustic

**Caustic.**

_Important to note- if you disable private messages, I cannot reply to your reviews. Just something to bear in mind._

Sokka's behaviour was starting to worry her. Ever since he'd been captured by... by... that girl, whatsername, he'd been... _off_. Quieter. More... introspective? He'd spent a lot more time by himself. But the really worrying sign was when he started agreeing with ideas that Katara had, which lead to the group doing a lot more … well, _work_. Helping orphans out of trees, making sure kittens improved their calligraphy, talking rampaging pyroclastic flows into turning around and helping out more in the community, it was all very tiring.

And Sokka was just letting it happen, which Mai was _definitely_ concerned about. Normally, when Katara's enthusiasm for accumulating good karma got out of control, all Mai had to do was give Sokka a look, and he'd start a measured debate with Katara about how much time they were wasting, and by the time Sokka had lost the row, the opportunity for charity had almost always either entirely resolved itself, or evolved into a Clear And Present Danger, something Mai had fewer qualms stopping. After all, she was quite fond of her organs, and she liked them best when they were still inside her.

But now, when she gave Sokka that look, he didn't do _anything_. He just stared back, looking gormless, for about a minute, before abruptly coming to his senses and returning to whatever it was he had been doing before she gave him the look.

Mai was more unnerved by this than she had thought possible.

So she enlisted the aid of the best detective she knew.

Unfortunately for Mai, that was Toph.

–

"You were right," Toph declared, portentously, some days after Mai brought her on board Operation: Spy On Sokka.

Mai sighed. "I _knew_ I was right before I asked you for help. I wanted you to find out _why_ I was right."

"Well how should _I_ know? All he does is stare off into the distance when he thinks nobody's looking and sigh wistfully! And occasionally acts really really focused, and mutters to himself under his breath!"

Mai raised an eyebrow. _That_, she had not seen.

"What does he say?"

"How should _I_ know? He only does it when he thinks he's alone!"

"Does he do this face?" Mai pinched her chin in one hand, and furrowed her eyebrows into a straight line. "That's his Planning Face."

Toph practically hopped up and down with exasperation. "What is _wrong_ with you people? I. AM. _BLIND!_"

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that."

–

Two days later, and the two converged again, to compare notes.

Mai was pretty certain she could see the writing on the wall. Sokka gets kidnapped, only to escape mysteriously unharmed; he then spends the next week and a half in some kind of _daze_.

She had _done_ something to him, Mai was certain of it. And whatever that -that …_floozy_ had done to him, a: it hadn't left a mark, and b: it had left him weirdly _wistful_.

Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.

–

Maybe he just had some kind of _thing_ for Princesses.

–

She had decided what she was going to do.

She was going to _destroy_ them.

–

No, that wouldn't accomplish anything. Then he'd either hate her or be terrified of her, and that was kind of the exact opposite of what she wanted. Not that 'what she wanted' was really on the cards any more.

–

So, all this in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that Mai was not in the best of moods when the party arrived at their next destination- a medium-sized town, in roughly the middle part of nowhere, it was the first decent-sized town they had come across since Gaoling, and as such it was decided that they take a while to rest and resupply while they were there.

A month ago, Mai might have considered such an occasion the ideal opportunity to find out whether or not Sokka was still pining over Yue or not. Except apparently it turned out that he _wasn't_, and Mai had just had too much respect for his feelings to just tie him to a chair and jump him like some Fire Nation Princesses she could name (well, if you wanted to get technical, she _couldn't_, because she hadn't bothered to learn the girl's name).

Oh well. Never mind. You live and learn.

–

It was with a despondent air that Mai sloped into the inn courtyard that evening, intent on sitting out under the stars and having an utterly titanic mope. However, before she could really get started on that worthy endeavour, she was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps.

Sokka made his way out into the night air, and smiled a little when he saw her.

_Damnit_, that still hit her like a punch to the gut. It wasn't _fair_.

"Mai! Glad I caught you. I was just... uh... I was wondering if, since we've got a few days to ourselves and all, perhaps you might like it if …we had dinner some time?"

Mai blinked.

"Huh?"

Sokka sighed, exasperated. "I am asking you on a date. You know, dinner, maybe see a play, or dancing, or an underground fight ring, you know. A date."

_Oh_.

"Wait. _This_ is what it's all been about? Your weird behaviour these last couple weeks has been about _this_?"

Sokka recoiled, face closing down. "Well don't sound _too_ excited. I'll accept a yes or no."

Mai almost laughed. "All this time, I figured- and you just wanted a date? Are you _serious_?"

Sokka blinked.

"You could've just said 'no'," he said, utterly deadpan, and turned to leave.

_Shit_.

Well, she'd completely mishandled _that_ one, hadn't she? He'd come and said pretty much everything she'd been wanting to hear from him for months, and what had she done? She'd completely lost it, and given him the absolutely wrong idea.

She could fix this. He was still in the courtyard- at least for the next few seconds. She could say something.

Would he believe her if she was sincere? He'd thought she was mocking him, and she couldn't take the chance that she'd just come across as laughing at him if she tried to be honest. But likewise she couldn't be flippant- that was what had _caused_ this problem.

There was only one thing to do.

"Sokka. Wait."

"_What_," he intoned, but he stopped nonetheless. There was hope. There was _definitely _hope. But still, no words were coming to her.

So she circled around him, and before he could figure out what she was doing she ducked her head and planted a brief kiss on the side of his mouth.

"In case I'm being ambiguous," she drawled, as she watched a confused smile dawn across his face, "that was a yes."


	7. Spares

**Spares.**

There wasn't exactly a great deal of free time, for either of them. After all, the whole save-the-world thing was more or less a full-time concern at that moment, which was only compounded by the fact that they were a little bit on the run from Azula while also trying to stick around one place long enough for Mai to learn earthbending properly, and on top of that there was the ever-present concern that Zuzu might show up and start being all awkward and confrontational again (although he hadn't shown up since the events at the North Pole. Sokka was starting to get concerned for the guy's health- after all, if he died, then Sokka had been saving up all his awesome quips for nothing).

Add to this tottering pile of responsibilities the fact that there was quite literally _no_ privacy anywhere within a hundred feet of a conscious Toph (not that it was her fault, but she wasn't exactly the type to just put up with it and pretend she couldn't sense anything), and Mai and Sokka were beginning to discover that perhaps their situation was not conducive to keeping a fledging relationship going.

Of course, seeing as Mai and Sokka were two of the most stubborn, belligerent, and, frankly, bloody-minded people in the world, they both independently decided that their disastrous timing was nothing more than an opportunity to keep things interesting. Sokka was out to spite the Universe, and Mai was of the opinion that if she was going to do something, then it was going to be done better than anyone else had done it in history.

So they stole time. It might be a few minutes alone at the end of a long day of running away, just sitting in quiet enjoyment of each other's company. Sometimes they managed something a little more elaborate, but it was some weeks before they actually managed to get a full evening just to themselves.

_Definitely_ not one of Sokka's Top Ten Most Relaxing Evenings ever. He'd thought it might be nice to do something... normal. Just so that Mai had something to contrast their lives against. So he'd aimed for the tried-and-true dinner/entertainment combination- in this case, a small theatre he'd felt pretty pleased with himself for discovering.

So, naturally, The Universe took umbrage at the way Sokka was preening, did a little fiddling, and _lo_, the restaurant was overcome by a plague of ratroaches, the theatre troupe was composed entirely of people who had apparently never even read the script, let alone _rehearsed_- and Sokka swore that the lead actually had some kind of seizure on stage- and a drunk man had insisted that Sokka was his Cousin Fang, and as such, owed him quite a lot of money because he had apparently ducked out of painting the man's fence the other week.

Mai hadn't had that much fun in some time.

On the other end of the spectrum was their trip to a poetry recital.

Sokka had thought it was kind of cool. And it was, except for some reason Mai had been glowering the entire time. Which, once Sokka noticed this, brought _his_ mood crashing down as he tried to figure out what was getting her so worked up.

He'd gotten down to wondering if it was because the dress that the current poet was wearing just didn't _work_ with her figure (someone should have told her that big puffy shoulders just looked silly on someone with no kind of shoulders to accentuate) when it suddenly occurred to him that, early in the evening, Mai had been recognised. Not in a dangerous sense- just a patron, who had clearly been travelling, had recognised her from eyewitness accounts, and had asked her if she was, in fact, the Avatar.

And, though she hadn't taken it out on the guy, that had been enough to send Mai careening into a completely awful mood.

At least Sokka had learned not to talk business around her when they were having their alone time.

But the activities themselves were more a distraction than anything else- a way to have something to do with their hands, or to provide something to talk about. The time was what was important. There was so much they both had to do, had to worry about, that any spare moments they could steal away were more precious than Sokka could confidently calculate.

He was pretty pleased that Mai had decided to spend them with him.


	8. Losers

**Losers**

"Okay," Mai said, muttering to herself. "Spirit bothering village. All you need to do is just hop over to the Spirit World and talk it out. Easy. Not like you've never done this before or anything. Just hit that Avatar Switch in your head, and _bam_, Spirit World. Great."

Nonetheless, Mai sat on the floor, and closed her eyes.

–

She opened them again, disappointed. Nothing had changed.

Oh well, she tried. Standing up, she stretched, and left her body behind.

Oh. Well. That was easier than she'd expected.

Looking out the first-storey window, she saw that what had once been a village was now a misty bamboo swamp. Shrugging, she hopped out of the window, and dropped lightly to the ground, begrudgingly beginning her search.

It wasn't that she _wanted_ the village to be terrorised by this 'Blue Spirit' that had so captured their imaginations, it was just that she had gotten her hopes up when it looked like it wasn't working, and now she actually had to go and do work.

–

Back in the real world, two shadows stole into the room, from the window.

Azula was the first to enter, fists raised, expecting a fight. Ty Lee followed, landing lightly next to her Princess in the small room. Of course, this meant she almost landed _on_ Mai's insensible body, still sitting on the floor.

This left Azula somewhat nonplussed. She had expected the Avatar to be at least a little more prepared than that.

With an air of scientific curiosity, Ty Lee extended a finger, licked it, and jammed it into Mai's ear. When this failed to get any reaction, she shrugged at Azula, who simply looked blank in return.

The pair of course couldn't risk speaking, so Azula was forced to instruct Ty Lee to collect the Avatar and transport her back to camp via the window, while Azula herself would exit by the ground floor, looking for opportunities to apprehend any of the Avatar's companions along the way using only hand gestures and two expressive eyebrow movements. She managed, evidently, as Ty Lee slung Mai over her shoulder, and clambered out of the window.

Azula opened the door, wary of any creaking, and padded down the hallway towards the landing.

She made it almost all the way to the stairs before someone hit her on the back of the head and everything went black.

–

She woke up -of course- tied to a chair.

"Hey."

Azula blinked.

"Good evening."

"Morning now," the barbarian corrected her. "We were gonna wake you up earlier, but you started snoring. Katara's pretty sure you haven't been sleeping right. Toph wanted to wake you anyway, but you know how Katara gets some times."

As a matter of fact, Azula surprisingly enough, did _not_ know how Katara got some times. Not that she was going to admit that. So she simply sat, passively.

"I see. And now you want to interrogate me?" She almost laughed at the audacity.

"Not really."

"Oh." She was a little disappointed.

"I mean, apart from the fact that I don't know the first thing about interrogating someone, I kinda... don't know what to ask. 'Hey Azula, I heard the Fire Lord is completely crazy, any word on that?' 'Well, Sokka, there was the time he showed up to one of his meetings in a dress, and of course he eats babies, does that count?' I mean, what good would, like, troop movements and stuff do us?"

Azula blinked, owlishly. "So, what _is_ your plan, then? And if you call my Father insane again, I promise you, you will regret it."

Sokka shrugged. "Well, since your friend got away with Mai, we're just gonna have a straight trade later today. I'm just kind of killing time."

Azula raised an eyebrow. "A simple hostage trade? No cunning ruse, no clever plan? I don't mean to sound forward, but you could solve many of your problems by simply killing me right now." She wasn't concerned about giving him ideas. He wouldn't get within two feet of her if he tried anything.

"No," he replied, and she was startled by how emphatic his response was. "No. Simple trade, that's all. Nothing fancy." And Azula recognised something, beneath the layers of flippancy.

He was scared. Azula smirked.

"I take it, then, that your relationship with the Avatar has progressed as we told you it would?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it pretty much has," he said, with a slightly vacant smile. It was obvious that he was somewhere else, in his minds eye.

"Congratulations." Something suddenly occurred to her. "But what, exactly, is going to keep Ty Lee from organising an ambush of her own?"

Sokka gave her a look so condescending that she almost lost control and attacked him at that moment.

"Pretty much the exact same thing that's stopping me, I'd imagine."

Azula's brow furrowed. Sokka gaped.

"You don't get it, do you? This is... this is completely ridiculous. I mean, at least _I_ had an excuse, 'cause I mean Mai's kinda reserved plus I only met her last winter, but _seriously_? You haven't seen it? She is _literally_ all over you. I mean you are practically wearing her as a _hat_."

Azula's glare could have punched through steel. "Explain yourself."

Sokka threw up his hands. "Okay, you know what? You didn't let me figure out Mai on my own, so I'm just gonna go ahead and spoil the ending. Your acrobat friend? Is _clearly_ into you."

Azula blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

Sokka dragged his hands slowly down his face. "You are so completely clueless. She digs you. She'd like to get to know you better. She wants to take higher than you've ever been. She wants to know what love is, and she wants you to show her. She wants to stand with you on a mountain, she wants to bathe with you in the sea. _She wants you to tie her down and do sexy things to her_. Is _any _of this getting through to you?"

If Azula had flushed any harder, she would have started glowing.

"You are- you are completely delusional."

Sokka shrugged. "She as good as said so herself, when you guys were holding me captive. Seriously, you can ask her."

Azula filed that suggestion under Not Doing, Ever, and shook her head, trying to get the disturbingly pervasive mental images Sokka was prompting out of her head.

Desperately, she tried to change the subject.

"You mentioned, before, that you considered my Father to be-"

"Crazy?"

"-Yes. Why did you reach that conclusion? Certainly you have never met him."

Sokka wasn't impressed. "I'd say the clincher was probably when he decided to carry on the whole _I must conquer the entire world_ thing. Because that idea is crazy. And stupid." After a moment, he cocked his head at Azula's lack of reaction. "Oh come _on_! You know it's never gonna work. Sure, you've got the colonies, but even if you conquered the whole Earth Kingdom it's just too _big_, and there's too many people living in it that really are _not_ gonna be cool with the idea of bowing to the Fire Lord! You'll get rebellions every week! What's he gonna do, burn down the whole world so there's nothing but the Fire Nation left, and crown himself King Of The Charcoal Pit?"

Azula, with some difficultly, wrestled her temper under control.

"One- my Father is _not_ insane, and you will know it when you are dragged before him in chains. Two- Ty Lee certainly does _not_ want to do... those things you said she does, and I _will_ ask her, just so you can't say otherwise." She was most definitely _not_ going to ask Ty Lee anything of the sort, but Sokka wouldn't know that. "Three- it _is_ possible to bring the greatness of the Fire Nation to every part of the world, and it shall be done by summer's end. Perhaps you shall even live to see it. And four-" she smirked, cruelly. "Do I even need to say it?"

Sokka sighed. "Probably not," he admitted, seconds before Azula hit him over the head with a chair.

–

"-ake up. Sokka, wake up!"

"I'm up!" he cried, flailing wildly and almost hitting Toph in the face. "Where's Azula!"

Toph shrugged. "She jumped out the window just a few moments ago. Katara's gone after her, but it looks like she's long gone."

Sokka sighed, and sat up, moving towards the window. Looking out, he stared at the direction Azula had gone.

It was puzzling him, slightly. "She just ran off straight that way?"

"Yeah."

"But that's straight into the woods. The woods that are full of moose-lions and platypus-bears."

Toph grinned cruelly. "Yeah."

"Do you think she meant to do that?"

"Nope."

"Do you think she knows where she's going?"

"Nope."

Sokka contemplated the view for a few more seconds. Then he shrugged. "Eh. She looked like she needed to blow off some steam anyway."


End file.
